The last few years in the UK have been a bit of a rollercoaster. We’ve had Brexit, the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, the rising cost of energy bills and now the death of her majesty the Queen. It’s been a lot to take in mentally.

It’s this continuing changing of circumstances that seems to be affecting people. I’ve had similar feelings about the future. As has my wife. Well, it turns out it’s actually more common than I thought.

The result is that many of us are experiencing future fatigue: “When several difficult experiences happen back to back, your mind starts to use this information to predict the future and it can appear bleak as a result,” says Cobban, which causes us to lose “a sense of hope about the future being different in a positive way”.

— Surprised by how disoriented you feel right now? You’re not the only one

As for getting over these feelings of uncertainty, it is recommended by psychotherapist Nova Cobban that you focus on things that you can see the outcome of.

As well as limiting your time on social media (“feeding the anxiety” by looking more than once or twice daily is not helpful, Duff advises), it’s important to focus on the aspects of your life that you can actually influence and shape. “Look at what you are spending your time and energy on,” suggests Cobban. “Is it things that you have no control over but greatly concern you or is it things you can actually personally have a beneficial effect on?”

— Surprised by how disoriented you feel right now? You’re not the only one